


A Cottage Floating on the Sea

by PrincessYuna



Category: Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types, Once Upon a Time (TV), Peter Pan & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Ingary AU, Peter Pan is not Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold's Father
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-12 05:44:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11155458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessYuna/pseuds/PrincessYuna
Summary: A Darling Pan fic set in Ingary, the land of Howl's Moving Castle. Wendy is the daughter of a prosperous banker in Market Chipping, and despite all the luxuries in her life, she longs for something other than the advantageous marriage her parents have been preparing her for for her entire life. She longs for adventure, romance, and magic so she runs away from home to the sea side town of Port Haven.  There she finds the domain of the powerful wizard Peter Pan, his apprentice Felix, and his fire demon Tinkerbell. Will she convince him to let her stay? Or will he curse he had to so many others who came knocking at his door?





	1. In Which Wendy Cleans Floors

**Author's Note:**

> Another old fic being posted here. It's inspired by the world my favourite book Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I'm hoping to get back into working on this one eventually.

Many would think that eldest daughter of a prosperous banker would want for nothing. Well for some that may have been true, but for Wendy that was far from the case. She stared out the window of her mother’s parlour and sighed. It seemed everyone out there on the streets of Market Chipping had more interesting lives than her. She watched one of the apprentice girls from the pastry shop rush past her window to get to work. She was followed by a young pair of lovers taking a romantic stroll about town, they’re gaze never leaving each other’s eyes. Behind them was a new mother out to do her shopping, a woven basket in one arm, and a baby in the other. Wendy sighed. She couldn’t be more jealous of all of them. They were out in the world, they got to do things that kept them busy. Not like her. It seemed her only task was to sit indoors and look pretty.

That had been her mother’s task for her that day, to sit quietly and look pretty. Her father was the head of the Market Chipping branch of the largest bank in all of Ingary. As his wife, it was her mother’s duty to serve as host for all of their important visitors. Today she had hosted a tea for the wives of all the other bankers in town. As much as Wendy hated it, as their daughter it was her job to attend. She had worn a cornflower blue silk dress with white trim and dressed her hair into something suitable for the occasion. All she did for hours was sit there quietly and sip tea while the ladies chatted idly. She didn’t speak at all, as the youngest present it wasn’t her place, and she found herself increasingly bored as time went on. Now all the ladies had left and she was left alone to find a way to kill time until super. And she chose to do that by sitting on the velvet window seat, leaning against the embroidered pillows, and daydreaming about having a life like the people she saw outside. 

“Wendy dear, shouldn’t you be getting dressed for dinner?” her mother said rousing her from her thoughts.

“Oh…” she sighed, getting up from her seat. “Yes, mother.” 

“And remember dear, Mr. Gold the head of the bank is coming to dinner tonight with his son Baelfire. Be sure to dress appropriately.” 

She sighed as she walked slowly up the stairs to her room. All she did every day was get dressed up to sit still and look pretty for people she didn’t really want to spend time with. She felt more like a doll than a person. She was so tired of it all, but what could she do? That was her life, and it was never going to change. 

She went into her room and picked out a dress for dinner. Her mother always preferred her to wear blue, she said it brought out the gold in her hair best, but Wendy didn’t feel like doing what her mother wanted her to do today. She couldn’t do much to rebel, but at least she could show a little protest by wearing a different dress than the one her mother desired her too. She took a dark green dress out of her closest instead. She liked the colour, it was a deep and mysterious green, like a forest waiting to be explored. The jet black beading added an extra edge of sophistication to the dress, as if the night sky was just peeking out between the leaves of the forest trees. She put the dress on, tying the black sash into a bow in the back. Looking at herself in the mirror she felt the dress suited her much better than her blue ones. The green brought out the sparkle in her eyes, in her opinion a much better feature than her hair. That sparkle was the only thing that separated her from the porcelain doll sitting on her shelf. 

She went down to dinner, preparing herself for hours of boredom. Of course, her assumptions were completely correct. She sat silently, nibbling her food, as a lady should, listening to the adults talk about subjects she never cared about. She was so jealous of her two brothers, John and Michael. They didn’t have to suffer through this. They got to take their meals in the nursery still, and they got to talk about whatever they liked. She missed those days in the nursery. Now she was stuck here in the dining room, the only person in the room even close to her age was Baelfire. She had known him briefly before, he was a very nice boy, but he wasn’t doing much to make the situation better. He seemed too intimidated by his father to do anything to make the meal more interesting. So she sipped her water and ate her soup in silence, wondering how many courses she would be forced to put up with, and trying not to make improper faces when the adults would notice. 

Eventually the longest dinner of her life ended. It wasn’t that the company was particularly dull, she was just so tired of all these visitors, the dinner parties, the teas. It was all so monotonous. While she had sat at that table she saw her whole life stretched out before her. She would have more parties like these until eventually her parents would pick a suitor for her. They would say it was her decision, but everyone knew it was not. They would encourage her to make “the best” match, the one that would benefit all involved. It was probably going to be Baelfire, both their parents had already started hinting at it during dinner. They would court for a while, always under the supervision of chaperones, and then eventually he would propose to her with some large and over extravagant diamond ring. They would be the talk of the town, everyone would proclaim it as a “good match”, and pretend that they could see how in love the two were. There’d be wedding plans, everything proper and respectable, planned by her mother really but they would say it was all her decision. And then she would get married and have children of her own, probably at least one daughter. Then she would become just as bad as her mother was to her, planning tea parties and picking a match for her daughter, probably to some duke, so that they could move up in the social ladder.   
She couldn’t think of anything more dreadful than a life like that. It’s not that she didn’t want to get married, it was something she had always desired, but she didn’t want to get married to whoever her parents decided was best. She wanted to get married for love. She wanted to have an adventure that ended in a passionate romance, something like the ones in the cheap romance novels she had convinced one of the maids to give to her after she had finished reading them. She wanted to go out into the world before she got married. And as she entered her bedroom that night she decided that that was exactly what she would do. She had had enough, she was running away from home. 

She tried to act as if everything was normal while she prepared for bed, but inwardly she was already planning her escape. She would have to wait to leave until late at night, when everyone would surely be asleep. Then she would sneak out the servant’s door with as much as she could carry and have her freedom. As her maid helped her put on her nightgown and braid her hair she traced the route in her mind. Getting out of her room, down the hall and down the stairs would be the easy part. The hard part was when she had to go through the kitchen where the servant’s door was. Sometimes the scullery maids would still be awake, working long into the night. She would have to hope they finished early today, or if they didn’t, that they fell asleep long enough for her to sneak away. 

She turned off her light and laid down in bed at her usual time, not wanting to rouse any suspicions by staying up too late. She laid there as still as she could, pretending to be asleep, waiting for the house to fall silent. She could still hear the carpeted footfalls of the maids cleaning up after everyone else was asleep. It would be a while before they went to bed. She laid there thinking of the new life that awaited her in the morning. She had yet to actually think about where she would go once she left her house. She imagined the possibilities while she waited. She had always wanted to have an apprenticeship, to learn some sort of trade, do something useful with her life. That was definitely something she could do, but she would have to travel to a different town in order to do so. She decided Port haven would be the place to go. She could make it there in a day’s time if she hitch hiked, and her parents would never go looking for her in such a tiny town. It also had the bonus of being on the coast. Wendy had always wanted to live by the sea. She had gone there on vacation once with her family. It was so beautiful, the big strip of blue stretching out as far as the eye could see, the sound of the waves rhythmically crashing as if it was the world’s heartbeat. The little seaside town of Port Haven would be the perfect place to begin her new life. There she’d become an apprentice, learn a trade, and see where life took her. And most importantly she’d never have to have one of those stuffy tea parties again. 

She had no way of knowing how long it had been since she went to bed, but eventually the house grew silent. Noiselessly she crept out of bed and went to her closest. She picked out the plainest of her dresses, powder blue cotton with a flower pattern and a turquoise sash. She took off her night dress and changed into the cotton dress. It wasn’t easy, she had never gotten dressed by herself before, her maid had always helped. Eventually she managed to fasten all the buttons and tie all the sashes that were necessary. She took the largest pillow from her bed and stripped it of its pillowcase. Then she stuffed her night dress into it and started collecting other necessities. She grabbed a few extra pairs of stockings, some handkerchiefs, a few simple petticoats, and a spare dress. She stuffed her favourite cheap novel in the pillowcase as well, an unnecessary luxury perhaps, but important to her. She then tiptoed over to her jewellery box and opened a small drawer hidden on the inside where she had been stashing away pocket change for a special occasion. She would need something to get by on before she found a job. It was a shame she could not take her jewellery with her to pawn off, but she was sure her parents would be alarmed if they found that their jewellery was missing as well as their daughter. She did take one more thing from her jewellery box, her favourite necklace. It was barely worth anything so her parents would not miss it. It was a small silver acorn pendant on a chain. She had had it since she was a baby, it was a gift given to her by a local wizard at her birth. She had worn it as often as she could and that wasn’t going to change now. She closed the clasp behind her braided hair and tucked the necklace under her dresses collar to keep it safe from the eyes of robbers. Finally she put on a cardigan over her dress to protect her from the night air and grabbed her most practical brown leather boots and put them in the pillowcase. She would walk through the house in her stocking feet to keep from getting caught. 

She slowly opened her bedroom door, glad in the moment that the servants kept the hinges so well oiled, and crept out of her room. She snuck down the hallway as quietly as she could, stopping only to glance one last time at her younger brothers, soundly tucked away in their beds in the nursery. She would miss them, truly she would, but she couldn’t live here anymore. This was not the life she wanted. She stood in their doorway for a minute, imprinting the image into her mind, and then quickly walked away before she had second thoughts. She walked silently down the stairs, through the parlour, and into the dining room, her heart racing as she got closer and closer to her freedom. All that was left now was the kitchen.

There was a ray of light spilling out of the half closed kitchen door and Wendy pressed herself up against the wall to avoid getting caught in it. She didn’t hear any noises coming from inside, but that didn’t mean it was empty. Slowly she crept along the wall and peered into the room. One light burned in the room where the scullery maid sat by the fire place, asleep. Wendy breathed a sigh of relief, she had been holding her breath without realizing it. She snuck into the kitchen, careful not to touch the door in case it made a noise that would wake the maid up. She looked around the room quickly, hoping to find some food left out that she could take with her. She was in luck, there was a loaf of bread and a wedge of hard cheese left on the table, probably as a snack for the maid. She quickly wrapped up the food in a napkin and put it in her pillowcase. Now she just had to get out the door. Slowly she opened the door, careful not to wake the maid, and walked out, quietly shutting the door behind her. She was free. She quickly put her shoes on and ran from the house as fast as she could, not once looking behind her. 

She couldn’t believe she had escaped her house. That big building that had felt like a cage to her for years was now behind her. She wasn’t quite safe yet though. She had to get out of town if she wanted to avoid being dragged back home by her parents. She stopped running and tried to look casual as she walked down the streets. Very few people were outside this late at night, but she still didn’t want to look suspicious. By the time she had gotten to the outskirts of town the sun was just beginning to rise above the hill tops, tinging the sky with pink. The farmers were just beginning to stir out of their houses, ready to start their work for the day. Now she was sure she could find someone to give her a ride to Port Haven. 

Wendy walked along the dirt road a bit until she came upon a farmer loading a cart full of corn. She had no idea where he was headed, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. She only hoped that the farmer would have no clue who she was. 

“Hello sir,” she shouted up to the man as she approached the cart.

The farmer lifted his head, startled at being approached so early in the morning. “Hellooo!” he yelled. 

“May I ask where you’re going today?” she called up.

“To Port Haven! Hoping to sell this stuff at the market.” 

Wendy couldn’t believe her luck. “Would you mind giving me a ride? I’ll pay you if you like.”

“Well sure, I’ll give you a ride, no need to even pay me. But this seat’s only built for one. You’ll have to ride with the corn. Hope ya don’t mind.”

“That’s fine.” She nodded. “Any chance you could help me get up there?”

“Well sure, just take the ladder.” He pointed to the ladder leaning across the back of the cart leading up to the top of the pile.

“Thank you!” she yelled up to the man.

Wendy had never climbed a ladder before, and this one certainly did not look very well built. It was made of very old wood and the rungs were rounded smooth from use. She was a bit frightened, but what else could she do. She took a deep breath and put one foot on a rung. It was difficult to get a grip, but slowly she managed to climb the ladder and position herself relatively comfortably sitting on top of the corn. 

“Y’all right up there?” the farmer yelled back to her.

“Yes sir,” she yelled. “I’m ready to go.”

She felt herself jerk back as the horses neighed and began to pull the cart forward. It was a much bumpier ride than any carriage she had ever been in, but she was excited. She was on her own now and she was going to have the adventure she had always dreamed of. 

Now that she was on her way, Wendy realized she was starving. She was not allowed to eat much at dinner the night before and now it was already time for breakfast. She took the food out of the pillow case and examined it. She didn’t know how long it would be until she could buy more food so she couldn’t eat it all at once. The cheese wouldn’t last long in the relatively hot day, so she would eat that first. As she sat in the cart and ate her breakfast she realized this was the first moment she’d had to relax and think since she ran away. Now she could start to figure out where she wanted to begin her apprenticeship. She thought of the girl from the pastry shop that ran past her window yesterday. That would be nice, she would get all the cakes she could ever want. But she had never baked a thing in her life, and the thought of those hot ovens and that messy flour was not very appealing. Port Haven was known for its rare seafood, maybe she could get a job on a fishing boat. Only, she had never been on a boat before, what if she got sea sick? That was clearly not the right job for her. She pulled her necklace out of her collar and fiddled with it while she thought it over. It was an old habit of hers, she barely even noticed she did it anymore, but it gave her an idea. She had heard there was a wizard living in Port Haven. She would ask to be his apprentice. Though she had no experience with magic she was sure that she would be talented at it. After all, that wizard would not have given her the necklace if he did not see potential in her, even as a new born baby. That had to be why he had given it to her, she just knew it. So she would go to the wizard in Port Haven and become his apprentice. She dozed off on top of the corn dreaming of how talented she would be. 

The cart went over a bump in the road woke Wendy up. She looked at her surroundings in a daze. It took her a minute to realize where she was, to remember why she was sleeping on top of a pile of corn and not in her feather bed. Once the realization hit her she felt a brief surge of panic, which was quickly followed by a wave of excitement at things to come. 

“Are we at Port Haven yet?” she called out to the famer.

“Just outside the town now!” The farmer called back. 

Wendy’s excitement grew more intense the closer they got. The sun was high above her in the sky now. She figured she should probably eat lunch before going to see the Wizard. She took out the loaf of bread and broke it in half, saving the rest for dinner. She nibbled on the bread while she looked around at her thrilling new surroundings. The houses here were much more squished together than they were in Ingary. They all seemed to be painted either white or blue, matching the ocean and the sky. There were people rushing everywhere, most of them women with their heads covered in kerchiefs, rushing to the market with baskets to get the best deals. She could now smell the salt air and hear the seagulls cawing up in the sky. From her perch on top of the cart she could just see a hint of the sea peeking out at her from in between the many buildings. She didn’t think she could have come up with a better place than Port Haven to start her new life. 

“Well here you go ma’am. Port Haven market.” The farmer said as he helped her climb down from the cart. 

“Thank you so much sir.” She said as her feet landed on the cobblestones. “Are you sure you don’t want to be paid?” 

“Naw, I’m always willing to help a lady” he smiled.

“Well thank you again sir,” she smiled at him and went to turn around, until she remembered something. “Wait, you don’t happen to know where the wizard lives here do you?” 

“No ma’am” the farmer shook his head. “I don’t meddle in that sort of stuff.” 

“Well thanks anyway.” She waved at the farmer before walking further into the market, in the hope of finding someone who might be able to help her.

She walked around looking for help, but everyone was so busy they didn’t even look at her. People were shouting at each other, grabbing items from the stalls and fighting over them. It was chaos, fishy smelling chaos. She had no idea where to go. Then she spotted a figure in a dark cloak walking briskly through the market, his hood blocking his face from view. If anyone here was going to know where to find a wizard, it was him. She called out to him, but he either didn’t hear her or he ignored her. He was quickly walking away from the market. Wendy had to run to keep up with his long legged strides. Soon they had left the marketplace all together and were heading towards the ocean. Wendy followed him desperately, darting through the busy streets and avoiding carts as she struggled to keep up. He turned corners quickly, often taking back alleys, and she began to worry about losing him. Soon they got to the coast and the crowd began to thin. Only a few fishermen were walking around the streets, and of course the hooded figure was there as well. The man stopped abruptly at what looked like the door of a small boat house on the coast. Wendy quickly hid behind a stack of crates when the man looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to him. When he did so, Wendy caught a quick glance at his face. She didn’t see much, but she did notice the scar that ran across his features. She had to wonder how he had gotten that scar. She did not get much time to think about it though as the man opened the door and quickly disappeared inside the boathouse.

Wendy waited a little while to see if he would come back out. He didn’t. No boats left the boat house either. She came out from behind the crates and approached the door. There was a small window next to it and she peeked inside. Much to her shock there was no one in there. There wasn’t even a boat. The place didn’t look very well taken care of either, the walls seemed to be rotting and the building looked on the verge of collapse. She knew it was impolite, but her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the door without knocking. Still she didn’t see anyone inside. 

“Hello.” She called as she stuck her head in the door. “Is anybody in here?”

No one answered. From the doorway the boat house looked even more derelict than she thought. The beams of the roof looked about to fall down and there were weird creatures living on the walls. She took a deep breath and stepped inside, she figured that was the only way she was going to get answers. 

To her shock the whole room turned pitch black. She could barely see her hand in front her face. Then she realized the acorn on her necklace had started to glow. It was faint at first , like it was shining in the sun, but it got brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding. She was forced to close her eyes. When she finally opened them she was no longer in the boat house. Instead she was standing in the doorway of a small kitchen. 

Wendy had no idea how she got there, but she had a feeling that she had found the wizards house. She felt a little guilty intruding on the home of someone she had never met, but she didn’t see anyone there so she decided to look around. The floors were all hard wood but they looked as if they hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. The walls had been painted a nice olive colour, but the dust and chipping paint did the room no favours. On one side of the room there was a large wooden table and a sink, both cluttered with various dirty dishes, cooking utensils, books, and other unidentifiable objects. There was also a collection of miss matched chairs surrounding the table. On the other side of the room there were comfortable chairs, their upholstery ripped, the stuffing falling out. They stood in front of a large stone fireplace. Even though it was a rather hot day, there was a fire going in the grate. That was not exactly that unusual in itself, but what was unusual was the colour of the fire. It was bright green. Wendy had never seen anything like it before in her life. She crept closer to it to get a better look. When she did she realized It wasn’t just a fire, there was a miniature woman sitting there, surrounded by green flames. 

“What are you doing here?” the woman said angrily.

“How wonderful!” Wendy exclaimed, ignoring her question. “You can even talk! Are you a fairy?”

“No.” the woman scowled. “I’m a fire demon. And you didn’t answer my question. What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for the wizard who lives in this town and I wandered in here. I’m assuming I’m in the right place.”

The fire demon shook her head. “That was a terrible idea. You should have never come looking for him.”

“Well why not?” She asked.

“Haven’t you heard the stories of the ruthless Peter Pan?” The fire demon looked at her like she was crazy.

“No, I’m not from around here.” Wendy was started to get nervous for the first time since she arrived. “What are the stories?”

Before the woman could answer they hear loud foot steps up above them. A boy about Wendy’s age came loudly down the stairs at the back of the room. It was the man she had followed here. He was no longer wearing the dark cloak, but Wendy recognized the long scar running across his face. He did not look any happier to see her than the fire demon had, but Wendy was sure she could change that. 

“You must be Peter Pan.” She said with a little curtsy.

“And you must be even dumber than you looked in the marketplace.” The boy said with a sneer. 

“What?” she said, hurt and confused.

“I’m not Pan.” He rolled his eyes at her stupidity. “I’m Felix his apprentice. “

Wendy was a little disappointed to hear that Peter Pan already had an apprentice, but she didn’t lose hope. She was sure he would be willing to have two apprentices. Especially one as naturally gifted as she was going to be.

“Well it’s very nice to meet you.” She replied cheerily. “I’m sure we’ll spend a lot of time together as I’m hoping to be his apprentice as well.” 

Both the fire demon and Felix silently stared at her in disbelief. Finally Felix spoke.

“You really are an idiot. He won’t take you on as his apprentice. Do yourself a favour and get out of here before he kills you or worse.” 

Before Wendy could take his advice the door opened behind her. In strode another figure in a black cloak. Something about the way he strode in the door like he owned the place told Wendy that he must be Peter Pan. He took of his cloak and hung it on a peg by the door. Wendy could hardly believe how young he was. He was only a boy really, about the same age as her, and yet he was a well-known and accomplished wizard. Wendy couldn’t help but notice that he was also quite handsome. Probably the most attractive boy she had ever met. 

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” he growled without even saying hello.

Wendy was quite possibly the most frightened she had ever been, no one had ever spoken to her like that before. “My name is…” she stammered, realizing it was probably best not to use her real name any more, she would have to come up with a new one quickly. “I’m Moira…” 

“Don’t lie.” He snapped at her. “You think I don’t recognize Wendy Darling, the daughter of the well-known banker George Darling. I suppose you ran away from home. Probably wanted to have some sort of adventure right?” he rolled his eyes at her.

“Well yes actually…” she blushed, the way he was staring right at her made her uncomfortable, it felt like he could see right inside her soul. Who knows he was a wizard, maybe he could.

“And you probably came here wanting to learn magic right?” he sneered. “What makes you think you’re good enough to be my apprentice?” 

“Well… I’m not sure exactly… You see I’ve never done magic before or anything… It’s just this wizard gave me this necklace when I was born… I thought maybe it might mean something. It’s stupid really, probably meaningless I just thought maybe…” 

Her breathe caught and her heart skipped a beat as he walked up to her and grabbed her necklace while it was still attached to her neck. To At first she thought maybe he was going to strangle her with it, but instead he was examining it closely. As scared as she was, she couldn’t help but exam his features with his face so close to hers. He wasn’t just handsome, he was eerily beautiful in a way. Even more so now that he was lost in thought instead of glaring at her furiously. She had to resist the urge to reach out and touch his cheek to see if he was real. 

“Alright.” He said quietly, letting go of her necklace and taking a few steps backwards. “You can stay.”

“Oh thank you so much!” Wendy said, all of her previous fear gone. 

“But you’re going to have to sign a contract.” He said, making a piece of parchment and a quill pen appear from nowhere in her hands. 

She quickly glanced at the parchment. She read the words “I Wendy Darling in entering into this apprenticeship” and knew all she needed to know. She excitedly signed the line at the bottom of the page in her nicest script and handed it back to Peter. 

“Alright then “he said “Now that that’s settled we can begin. First, scrub my floor.”

“What?” Wendy was shocked, this was not at all was expecting to be doing. “I’m not going to wash your floor. What does that have to do with learning magic?”

“I see daddy didn’t teach you much about making deals, did he?” he chuckled. “You should always read the contract in full. And this one says that you have to do everything I say or I have every right to throw you out in the streets without having ever taught you a single spell.”

“But that’s not fair!” she yelled, angry at him as well as herself, for getting tricked so easily. “I would have never agreed to that if I knew.”

“Well then, you should’ve read the contract first. Now wash my floor, the bucket and scrub brush are over there.” He tilted his head towards the bucket by the wall.

“But…” she stuttered

“Get to work.” He snapped at her before walking away and up the stairs with Felix trailing behind him. 

Wendy just stood there in shock for a while. She was in a position she would have never imagined when she left her home to come here. Yes, she was in a wizard’s house, but she was more like his servant than his apprentice. She didn’t know when he would teach her magic, if ever. She couldn’t really do anything about it either, she signed a contract. Even if she could leave, which she wasn’t entirely sure if she was allowed to voluntarily, where would she go? She was stuck here doing whatever Pan told her to.

She didn’t have a clue how to wash a floor. She had never touched a scrub brush in her life. She was going to have to try though, if she ever wanted to please Pan. She tried to think of what the servants at home did when they washed the floors. She figured the first step was to fill the bucket with water. So she grabbed it and took it to the sink, filling it all the way to the top. There was some soap by the sink as well. And she figured she would probably need that. She wasn’t sure how much though so she just poured it in until she thought it was the right amount. Apparently, she had guessed wrong as the bucket quickly began to overflow with suds. She hastily turned the water off and tried to take the bucket out of the sink. It was a lot heavier than she expected. She had to use two hands to drag it to the far side of the room by the hearth, and even then it was still difficult. She needed to stop and catch her breath for a few minutes afterwards. She had never lifted anything so heavy in her entire life. When she was feeling better she took the scrub brush and dunked it in the water. She decided to start cleaning where the floor was dirtiest, get the toughest part over with while she still had some energy left. So she began scrubbing the ashes off the floor at the foot of the hearth. 

She began scrubbing, but it was a lot harder than she thought. The ashes didn’t want to come off at all. She scrubbed and scrubbed until her arms hurt, but the floor was so filthy it hardly made a difference. She was so frustrated and miserable about everything that happened that she burst into tears. 

“I’m so stupid.” She said out loud between sniffles. “I should have just stayed home. So what if I was bored, at least I wasn’t this miserable. Whatever made me think I could go out on my home and get an apprenticeship with a wizard? I’m not good enough for that. I’m such an idiot.”

“Now don’t be so hard on yourself.” A voice said sympathetically. “It’s not that bad.”

“What?” Wendy looked up from her scrubbing trying to figure out who had said that. She realized it was the fire demon, she had completely forgotten she was still there sitting in the grate. 

“Cheer up Wendy.” She said. “It’s not as awful as your making it out to be. Peter did take you on as his apprentice, so that’s good. I’ve seen plenty of others come in here asking for the same thing, only for him to cast some horrible curse on them for daring to think they were worthy of learning from him. You must have something special if he’s letting you stick around.”

“Well then why is he making me be his servant?”

“He did that to Felix as well when he first arrived here. He just wants you to prove that you’re really determined to learn. Once you show him that he’ll teach you. I’m sure of it.”

“Really?” she said, wiping her eyes. “Well then I’ll just have to work harder.”

“That’s better.” The woman said with a small smile. “Now you had better get back to work before he comes back downstairs. He won’t like to see you crying.”

“Alright.” She said dunking the brush back in the bucket. “Oh and Miss… I just realized I don’t know your name.”

“Tinkerbell, but everyone calls me Tink.”

“Thank you Tink.” 

The two girls smiled at each other before Wendy went back to work scrubbing the floors. A small patch of floor was finally started to look clean. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

It took her the rest of the day, but eventually Wendy managed to clean the entire kitchen floor. It wasn’t easy, especially with Peter occasionally coming down to yell at her, and with Felix d purposely kicking her bucket over on her, but she did it. She was rather proud of herself. 

“So are you going to teach me how to do magic now?” she asked Peter when he came to see her work. 

He laughed at her. “Of course not. There’s still so much for you to do. I think next you’ll have to repaint the walls.”

“Oh…” the proud smile dropped from her face.

His face softened and he stopped laughing at her. “But you’re done working for today. I’ll have dinner done in a bit. You can eat with us.” 

“Thank you.” She said, perking up a bit.

“You’re welcome.” He said his teasing smirk coming back. “Normally I’d be having you cook, but I’m really not in the mood for a burned dinner today.” 

Her first instinct was to argue with him, but she kept her mouth shut. He was being nice to her for the first time since they met and honestly, he was right. She didn’t know the first thing about cooking. She would probably burn a lot more than just the food if she tried. So she quietly sat down at one of the chairs scattered around the table and waited for him to finish cooking. She watched him with curiosity as he took some fresh fish that had been wrapped up and sitting on the counter and took out a large knife. He quickly cut the head of the fish and cut it up further. It was disgusting. She wondered why anyone would willingly cook something like that. He then took the knife and cut four large thick slices of bread off of a loaf on the counter. That part looked to her like the only thing she would ever be able to do. He then found a frying pan and brought it over to the stove with the bread and the fish. 

“Alright Tink it’s time cook.” He said casually to the fire demon.

“Fine.” She groaned. “You know I really hate this part of the job.”

The green flames in the grate got larger and Peter placed the pan on top. He skilfully grilled the slices of bread fish and layered them on top of each other on four relatively clean plates he found. While Peter was cooking Felix had come downstairs and sat at the table. He didn’t say a word to Wendy, but she wasn’t surprised by that. She had realized by now that they were not going to get along. He seemed to resent the fact that Peter had taken on another apprentice. So they sat silently, not looking at each other, while Peter finished up. 

“Here we go, grilled salmon on toast.” He said while he placed three plates on the table and one next to the grate for Tink. “Not very fancy, but I’m starving and I didn’t want to wait long.”

“Thank you, but… what am I supposed to eat with?” Wendy asked, searching the table for the silver.

“Your hands of course.” Felix rolled his eyes at her. 

“Well I’m sorry but I prefer to eat like a lady and not an animal.” She snapped at him.

Peter rolled his eyes at her as well. “If you must eat with something there are some forks in the sink.” 

Wendy looked in the sink and found several dirty forks laying there. She sighed, clearly she would have to learn to wash dishes as well, and grabbed a fork that was only slightly soiled. She ate silently, not wanting to make either of them mad when she was being treated kindly for the first time since she arrived. It was quite good, and she was starving. She hadn’t exactly been eating full meals, and washing the floors had taken a lot of energy. Still she did not scarf down her food, manners had been ingrained into her since birth. She could not say the same for Peter and Felix, they ate sloppily, almost like animals. Even Tinkerbell on the other side of the room was not the most lady-like, but she was certainly better than the boys. The three of them chatted while they ate, often with their mouths full of food. There was such a sharp contrast between the dinner Wendy had had the night before and the one she was having now. One was stuffy and oppressive, even though she was among family, while the other was casual and quite cheerful, though she was surrounded by strangers. It was funny how much a meal could affect her opinions of people. Though she was not quite sure of her place there, after dinner she was beginning to have a little hope that she might become comfortable in Peter Pan’s house after all. 

After dinner, she had some free time to look around the house. She gazed out the window by the door, expecting to see the street outside and people walking past on their way home. To her surprise, there was no street out the window at all. The only thing she could see was the sky, turning a dusty mauve as the last rays of sunlight began to leave, and a large stretch of ocean. It was so odd, she was sure this window would look out to the street the boathouse was on, she had entered through that very door. She had even peeked into the boathouse from that window, but the street she had been standing on was gone. 

“The whole house is actually floating out in the middle of the ocean.” A voice said from behind her.

It was Peter, gazing out the window with her. She was so preoccupied with the view that she hadn’t noticed. 

“If you look all the way over there,” he pointed out into the distance. “You can just make out the Port Haven coast.”

Wendy could just barely make it out in the distance. She could just see a thin stretch of sand and a lot of little specks that must have been boats at the docks way out on the horizon. 

“Then how did I get out here?” she asked him.

“The boathouse has a spell on it to transport people to the house. It’s easier than taking a boat so far out into the ocean. It also makes it easier for wealthy costumers to come pay me for magic.”

“Then why not just set up a shop in Port Haven?”

“Like all wizards I have my enemies.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “It’s safer out here. And all wizards need a fancy castle in an inconvenient place to make them more intimidating. Keeps people from coming to us to solve every little problem. ” 

Wendy had to admit he had a point. All the witches and wizards she could think off lived in outrageously inconvenient homes. She never really put too much thought to it before, but she guessed it made sense. 

They both stood there silently looking out into the ocean as the sky turned dark and the stars came out one by one.

“You’re going to need a place to sleep tonight.” Peter said, breaking the silence. 

“Oh…” Wendy said, blushing for some reason. “I suppose I will.” 

“I don’t have any extra rooms here, I’ll have to make one, and that spell requires time. Until then you can sleep in the kitchen. I have an old hammock you can use.” 

“Okay.” she felt it was best not to mention that she had never been in a hammock before. 

He got the hammock out from the broom closet and set it up in a little nook near the staircase. Wendy was confused by how nice he was being to her. Maybe she was wrong about him, maybe he was a good guy. He just wasn’t the best at first impressions. 

“There you go. Now go get some rest. You’re going to need it for tomorrow. There’s a lot for you to do. I’m thinking painting the walls, doing the dishes, and doing the laundry. And that’s only the morning. You are going to need a lot of energy.” He said as he walked up the stairs. 

Or maybe he wasn’t that nice after all. At least he didn’t kick her out.

Once he was gone she quickly slipped into the bathroom and changed into her night gown. Now her next problem was figuring out how exactly to get in the hammock. She tried a couple times, but she fell on her butt repeatedly. 

“Wow girl you really are dumber than you look.” Tinkerbell was laughing at her and leaning out of her grate to watch.

“Well I’m glad you find it entertaining.” She shot back sarcastically. 

“I’m glad I find it entertaining too.” She laughed

“Honestly how does one get into one of these things?”

“You really don’t know?” she shook her head at the girl. “Did you do anything in that fancy mansion of yours?”

“It was not a mansion it was a townhouse.” She realized that was not much better. “Can you stop laughing at me and help please?”

“It’s not like I can come over there and hold it for you.” Tink rolled her eyes.

“Well could you at least give me some advice?”

“Fine. You have to pay attention to your weight placement. Make sure it’s equally distributed on both sides. Then you won’t fall on your butt.”

Wendy picked herself off the floor and tried again, this time taking Tink’s advice. Surprisingly it worked. She managed to get securely into the hammock. It was a weird sensation, like being in a cradle or something. Now she just had to hope she didn’t fall out in the middle of the night.

She had to admit she was proud of herself. Not just about the hammock, but about everything. She’d accomplished a lot today, done things she’d never dreamed of doing before. Yes, she missed her family, but she had left her sheltered life and entered the real world. She was having her adventure. She was an apprentice, in a wizard’s house! As she drifted off to sleep she realized that even though this was turning out to be a lot harder than she expected, she was glad she had done it.


	2. Which involves far too many chores

Wendy woke up to the sound of someone shouting at her. It took her a minute to shake the fog from her head and figure out was going on. When she did, she realized Pan was glaring down at her.

“Get up!” he yelled. “You have a lot to do and I expect it all to get done today.”

She wanted so badly to ignore him, to roll over and go back to sleep, she had had a wonderful dream about flying, and she wanted so much to be able to continue it. But Pan wouldn’t like being ignored, he was likely to push her right out of the hammock if she tried to do it. So she slowly got up and out of bed.

As hard as it had been to get into the hammock, it was even harder to get out of it without falling on her face, She managed somehow, but it took a lot of awkward contortions. It didn’t help that her arms felt like they had weights attached. All that scrubbing had made her sorer than she had ever been in her life. Doing these chores was going to be a struggle.

“Hurry up and get dressed.” He commanded before walking back up the stairs.

She quickly grabbed the extra dress from her pillowcase and hurried into the bathroom. She changed into the dress, a pretty blue seer sucker, and quickly tried to do something with her hair to make it look presentable. 

“There you are.” He scolded, suddenly reappearing as she came out of the bathroom, “I’ve been waiting for ages.”

She had to bite her lip to keep herself from yelling back at him. 

“Your first job today is to make breakfast. I’m in the mood for scrambled eggs. Do you think you can manage something as simple as that?”

“Of course I can scramble eggs.” She shot back at him angrily. 

She was trying to pretend she was offended by his lack of confidence in her cooking skills, but really she didn’t have a clue. 

“Good. Felix and I will be down for breakfast in about fifteen minutes. It had better be ready on time.”

So she had no idea what she was doing, and she only had fifteen minutes to figure it out. Wonderful. She at least knew she needed some eggs, which were in the cupboard. She grabbed four, one for each person and hoped that would be enough. She would also need a frying pan, there was one laying in the sink. It didn’t look very dirty so she just rinsed it off. There was no time to do better than that, it would be fine. She also grabbed a fork and rinsed that off. That was probably all she needed. The next challenge was figuring out how to cook the eggs. 

“Tink, can you help me?” Wendy asked “After all you are a fire demon, you must have seen people make scrambled eggs loads of times.”

“Peter wouldn’t like it if I helped you. Besides, it’s much more fun to watch you fail.” She laughed.

“Please Tink?” she begged 

“Alright.” The fire demon sighed. “First you have to crack the eggs.”

“Well I guess that makes sense.” She had never really thought about how an egg went from this strange thing in her hand to the stuff she found on her plate at breakfast. 

She cracked the eggs, there was a little shell in the pan, but she figured that would be fine.

“Now I suppose I scramble them?” she looked at the pan and then looked at Tink. She gave Wendy a disbelieving look that probably meant yes. So she used the fork to mix up the eggs as best she could.

“Now I have to cook them.” She said to Tink. “You’ll have to help me with that.”

“Fine.” The fire demon sighed, as she crouched down and the flames grew larger. “Just put the pan on top.”

It took a long time for the eggs to cook, in fact Wendy worried she may have over cooked them, but there was no time to try to fix them if she had. She could already hear the loud footsteps of Pan and Felix coming down the stairs. 

“So you managed to have breakfast ready on time.” Pan said coolly,. “Let’s hope it’s good.”

Wendy really hoped so too. She quickly separated the eggs into four servings, three on plates and one left in the pan for Tink. Now that she looked at it there really were not a lot of eggs, she probably should have made more. There was nothing she could do now. She brought the plates over to the table and poured the rest of the eggs into the grate for Tink. The fire demon quickly gobbled them up. Felix and Pan did not look nearly as pleased with their breakfast as she did. 

“These eggs are disgusting.” Felix scoffed. 

“So you really are that clueless.” Pan said, examining a fork full of burnt eggs.

“I’m not clueless.” She snapped at him. “You two are just over reacting. They’re fine. Tink enjoyed them.”

“Tink’s a fire demon.” Peter rolled his eyes at her. “She’ll eat anything.”

“Well then I’ll try them for myself.” She argued. 

She took a fork full of eggs and placed it into her mouth showily. It took all of her mother’s training in lady like behaviour to keep her from spitting it right back out. They really were awful. Parts of them were burnt to a crisp, and she could feel the shells crunching as she chewed. She swallowed them down heavily, and tried to keep the disgust from showing on her face. 

Peter gave her look that practically screamed I told you so.

“Well I came here to be an apprentice, not your cook.” She said angrily.

“And you’ll be a worse witch than you are cook.” Felix said. 

Peter got up and melodramatically scrapped his eggs into the trash. “Well looks like you failed at that. You should hope you do better at the rest of your chores. Felix, get the bucket of paint from closet” 

He reluctantly got up from his seat and followed orders, slamming the can of paint at Wendy’s feet with a bang. 

“Good luck.” He sneered sarcastically before heading back upstairs.

“Miss Darling.” Peter said with mock politeness at the pampered girl. “Your next task is to repaint all of the walls downstairs. Don’t mess it up.” The last part had a hint of threat to it. 

“I won’t.” Wendy spat back at him, trying to hide the fear she felt when he glared at her. 

He didn’t bother to respond, he just grabbed one of the dark cloaks off the coat rack and walked out the door without even telling her when he’d return. 

Wendy opened the can of paint cautiously, recoiling at the strong fumes that hit her as she did. The colour didn’t look quite right at first, so she mixed it with her paint brush until it turned a deep olive green. It was a gorgeous colour, sort of like her favourite dress back home, the one with the jet black beading. It was a shame she couldn’t bring it with her. She was about to start painting when she realized that she better do something to keep the paint from dripping on the floors. She had just cleaned them yesterday and she wasn’t about to do it again. She found some old sheets in the closest and laid them out until the whole floor was covered. Then she began covering the walls in the deep olive paint, covering up patches of wear and tear on the walls and making them look brand new again. 

After a few hours she finally managed to paint the entire room. She had to say it looked pretty good. The paint was smooth and even and she didn’t drip it all over the place. Painting pictures was one of the few activities a young lady was allowed to do, and painting walls wasn’t all that different. She hoped now Pan would let her stop being his servant and actually teach her some magic. She was getting really sick of all these chores. If this was all she was going to do then she was probably better off going home. She’d be bored out of her mind, but at least she wouldn’t be too sore to move.

Wendy had just sat down to rest when Felix came back downstairs. 

“You actually managed to do it.” He was genuinely surprised. 

“I think you ought to owe me an apology.” She said, smugly taking advantage of his being caught off guard.

He laughed at her. “Don’t be so sure. Peter gave me a whole list of tasks for you to do today. Next you have to do the laundry, and then the dishes. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to screw up some more.” 

Wendy stood up with a sigh and got started on the laundry. It was going to be a long day.

By the time Pan came back at sunset Wendy was ready to fall asleep standing up. Her whole body ached from painting and cleaning and cooking and a million other things. Felix had cruelly barked orders at her all day and even occasionally took the time to sabotage her work. She didn’t know why, but he clearly despised her. She was almost glad to see Pan return, not that he was any nicer to her than Felix was. He didn’t even acknowledge all her hard work when he came home. 

“Felix!” he roared as he slammed the door shut and threw off his black cloak.

The boy rushed down the stairs in a blur. Wendy had never seen him move so fast. She suspected that he had used magic to do it, and she resented him all the more for it. Suprisingly, there was a hint of fear in the boys eyes. She wasn’t the only one afraid of Pan’s temper.

“Yes Pan?” he asked, refusing to let his fear enter his voice.

“He’s searching for us.” He barked.

“That’s impossible. I didn’t detect anything yesterday he must have…”

“Well you were wrong.” He snapped.

Wendy had never been in such a tense room, not even when her parents had fought. Pan was fuming, he looked ready to rip the head off the first person to speak, and she didn’t doubt that he had the power to do it either. For all Felix’s attempts to hold his head high and look composed, fear was radiating off his body. He knew he was certain to be punished, it was only a matter of how severely. Even Tink contributed to the tension as she leaned angrily out of the grate, her flames blazing so intensely they reached high up into the chimney. Wendy was too frightened to move from her spot at the sink. She clutched a dish tightly in her hand and worried that the crash it would make if she were to drop it would be enough to spring the trap and send Pan raging towards her.

It felt like they had been standing in this tableau for hours, but within a minute Pan let out a slow breath. The anger slowly melted from his face as the intense heat of Tink’s flames died down. 

“The spell he’s using is a tricky one, a mere apprentice would have never have sensed it.” He said. “I’ll have to up our protections.”

“You’ve evaded his spells before haven’t you?” Felix asked.

“Yes, but he’s tricky. And now he’s teamed up with another witch. A woman named Regina.”

“Is she powerful?” 

“Not nearly as powerful as I am, but she has her tricks as well. Tink!” he walked over to the fire demon. “We’re going to need to put on a few more cloaking spells and bring the cottage further out to sea. I don’t want any chance of anyone seeing it from the shore. I want it to seem like this place never existed.”

“Alright, but it’s going to take a lot of magic.”

“I know. I want to begin teaching the girl. We need all the help we can get.”

Wendy realized he was talking about her and quickly went back to washing dishes so she didn’t look like she was eavesdropping. Though, if anyone was really paying attention to her they would have surely realized she had been washing the same dish for about ten minutes now.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Tink asked.

“She might make things worse.” Felix joined in.

“Any magic is better than nothing.” Pan said. “Even if she is an idiot.”

Suddenly there was a loud crash as the dish slipped out of Wendy’s hand and broke into pieces on the floor. The three turned around to marvel at the mess she had made. She had effectively lost any chance at proving that she wasn’t an idiot after all.

Peter shook his head and walked over to the dish.

“I’ll take care of that.” He said.

He scooped up the pieces and in an instant they were whole again. He went to hand it back to her, but changed his mind and put it on top of the stack of clean dishes himself.

“Sorry.” Wendy said meekly, realizing it was already too late for that.

“ Have you finished all your chores?” he asked her.

She hated the way he talked to her. He was so condescending, like he was giving orders to a little girl. Really he was probably not much older than she was.

“”Yes, I have.” She grumbled. 

“Well let’s take a look shall we?”

He slowly walked around and examined her handiwork. He wiped the walls with his fingers to check that they were dry. He examined every dish for dirt. He even sniffed the laundry to make sure it was clean. He couldn’t find a thing to criticize. Wendy was pretty proud of herself. 

“I’ve done well haven’t I?” she said. 

“Well you have improved, but you’re still not perfect.” He said.

“Well it’s good enough.” She scoffed.

He shrugged. “I’m going to start training you in magic tomorrow.”

“Really?” 

“Not because of anything you did. And you’ll still have to continue to do choirs.”

“All right.” She sighed.

“We should celebrate with a big meal. Start cooking. I want dinner ready in an hour.”

Before she could argue with him he had disappeared up the stairs. She suspected more magic was at work. She never realized living in a house with a wizard could be so frustrating. Life sure would be easier once she could do magic too. Some day she would be just as good as Pan, maybe even better, and then there would be no more taking orders from him. Even she knew that that was still a long way off, so for now she was forced to do what he said. Which meant she had better get started on dinner. 

She somehow managed to cook an entire dinner without burning it, and though it was a little bland, it was edible. Granted Tink had given her a few tips, but she was improving. That didn’t mean that either Pan or Felix were impressed though. Not once did they, compliment her cooking. They just scarfed it down like animals. Sometimes she had the feeling she had signed her life away to learn magic. It wasn’t very far from the truth. 

“it’s time for you to go to bed now Wendy.” Pan said to her after dinner.

“Why?” she asked. “It’s still early.”

“Because I said so.”

“I’m not a child. I shall go to bed whenever I feel like it.”

“You’re my apprentice. You do what I say or I might change my mind about starting your training.”

“Fine.” She grumbled. “But it’s still stupid.

She went into the bathroom and changed into her nightgown. By the time she got out Felix had gone back up stairs. Pan remained at the table, looking through an old leather-bound book. She thought it best not to disturb him. She tried to get into the hammock as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, she still ended up falling to the floor with a loud thud on her first attempt. Pan startled and looked up from the book. As soon as he saw Wendy sitting on the floor, her foot still tangled in the hammock, he burst into laughter.

“It’s not very funny.” She snapped at him.

“Actually, it’s hilarious.”

She shot him a dirty look before trying again and falling on her butt. 

“Stupid hammock.” She grumbled 

“I’ll help you.” Pan sighed and got up from the table.

“I don’t need help. Especially not from you. “

“Yes you do. You’re hopeless. Tomorrow I’ll make that bedroom for you. I’d let you help, but I don’t need my house set on fire by an amateur.” 

“How do you know I’ll be that bad at magic?”

“You will be.” 

“Just help me with this stupid hammock.”

He held the hammock for her while she climbed in. Then he headed back to his book at the table without a word. Wendy wasn’t sure if she should say goodnight to him. She didn’t want to disturb him, but it felt awkward. She wished he would just leave already, she wasn’t at all comfortable falling asleep with him there. Eventually, she passed out from the exhaustion of the day, but Pan was still there, flipping through that old book with a foreboding look on his face.


	3. When Wendy Set the Table On Fire

There was a ringing in Wendy’s ears when she woke up. It was the most annoying sound she had ever heard. 

“Good, you’re awake.” Pan said when she got up to search for the source of the noise.

He was still sitting at the table in the exact same chair he had been in when she fell asleep. For all she knew he may have stayed there the whole night.

“What is that terrible ringing noise?” she asked as she fought her way out of the hammock. 

“Oh that.” He snapped his fingers and the noise stopped. “Just a little alarm I set up for you. Simple magic, for me anyway.”

“Are you always this cocky?”

“Cocky? What do you mean?” I am nothing if not humble.”

“Of course you are.” She rolled his eyes at him.

“Go get dressed and then we’ll get started.”

She grabbed the blue flowered dress that she had washed the day before and headed into the bathroom to quickly throw it on. Her haste did not come from her fear of Pan, but from her excitement about finally learning magic. She was nearly shaking from excitement and could barely manage the tricky buttons on the back of her dress. She wondered if maybe soon she’d even being doing those with the help of magic. 

“Come here.” Pan ordered as she emerged from the bathroom.

She headed over to the table where a different spell book now sat. It was smaller and less ancient than the one Pan had been searching through, but it was well worn. Most of the pages had the corners folded in and the binding was just about falling apart. She flipped through the pages out of curiosity. There were a lot of strange words in languages she did not recognize. Did he expect her to understand them?

“This is the beginner’s spell book. It was mine when I was an apprentice so take care of it.” He said.

“Oh. Okay.”

He reached over her arms and flipped to a page in the book. For a minute Wendy grew distracted by his unusual closeness to her. A strange warmth seemed to radiate from him and he smelled faintly of ocean and firewood. She snapped out of it when he moved to place a candle in the centre of the table and began giving her instructions again.

“For your first spell I want you to light this candle. Just the candle, not the table, or the walls or anything else.”

“I’m not a fool. I can do that.”

“Well I have a feeling I’ll be spending the day putting out the fires you start.”

“You will not. Just watch.” She said as she grabbed the book.

“Watch how it’s done first, before you start setting things on fire” He raised his voice slightly and grabbed the book back. “This is the spell here.”

He pointed to one of the lines written in a language she couldn’t understand. 

“You focus on the candle and then say the spell. Out loud. You’re not nearly talented enough to try silent spells yet.”

“Fine” she grumbled.

He quickly said some words that sounded like gibberish and in a flash a bright orange flame started to burn on the wick of the candle. He let it burn for a few seconds and then blew it out. A trail of smoke started to stretch toward the ceiling.

“Let’s see if you can at least manage to do that.”

‘Let’s see…tân yn…llosgi…llachar…a chryf.”

For a split second a spark appeared on the wick of the candle, but it quickly disappeared, leaving behind nothing but smoke. So much smoke that Wendy started coughing uncontrollably. With a wave of his hand Pan cleared the air in the room without having to say a word. 

“Show off.” She mumbled under her breath.

“Well you could have done worse. Still, pretty pathetic.”

“There was a spark.” She shot back. “I saw it.”

“If you say so.”

“Well it was my first try. I’ll get it now.”

She was interrupted by the loud footsteps of Felix as he came down the stairs.

“You’re late.” Pan said coolly without looking at him.

“Sorry.” He muttered as he sat down on the other side of the table.

“Continue working on that shielding spell I gave you.”

“Yes sir.”

“Wendy,” Pan said, his tone softening as he turned to her. “I’ll be upstairs. Keep trying with that candle.”

“Alright.”

He got up from the table and walked over to the grate. The fire was no more than a soft green glow among the logs, as Tink was still curled up asleep between them.

“Tink!” he shouted, waking her up. “I’m expanding the cottage now.”

“Couldn’t you have waited for a more reasonable hour?” she said between yawns.

“No. Now get to work.” He commanded.

The fire demon shot a dirty look at his back as he went up the stairs, but she stopped complaining, out loud at least. Her flames did seem to hiss and spark a lot more than usual.

“Oh, and Felix,” Pan shouted from the top of stairs. “Make sure Wendy doesn’t burn the cottage down.”

With that he disappeared up the stairs, leaving Wendy, Felix, and Tink to follow his orders.

“As if I didn’t have enough to do without having to babysit as well.” Felix muttered.

“Well lucky for you I am perfectly capable of handling myself, no matter what Pan says.”

To prove it she decided to try the spell again, and this time it would be perfect. She took a deep breath and then said the spell as loudly as she could.

“Tân yn llosgi llachar a chryf!” she shouted.

Immediately a large flame appeared, but not on the wick of the candle, on the table in front of her. Wendy got up frantically and ran to the sink to grab water, but by the time she had gotten there, Felix had already waved his hand over the flame, whispered a short spell, and put it out. 

“I hate babysitting.” Felix grumbled as he turned back to his own spell book.

“Thank you.” She said reluctantly.

She had a feeling Pan was not going to be happy about the scorch mark the size of her fist. 

“He’s going to make you fix that by hand.” Felix said.

Wendy just sighed, it figured she would only end up making more work for herself. 

“Wendy!” Peter yelled as he came down the stairs.

“What is it?” she asked as she quickly covered up the scorch mark with the spell book.

“What colour do you want your bedroom?”

“Oh um…” she thought back to her old bedroom and its boring white walls “Maybe...blue, with a little bit of green too I think.”

“Alright.” He said as he headed back up the stairs.

“I still can’t understand why he took you on as his apprentice.” Felix grumbled as Pan disappeared again.

“Why wouldn’t he?” she asked.

“I’m the only person he ever deemed worthy enough. He cursed everyone else who tried. He likes turning people into animals. He turned one girl into a tiger. She was a hassle to get to leave the cottage, nearly bit my head off. None of them were good enough for him. Then you show up, clearly a spoiled idiotic girl, and he takes you on in seconds. I don’t get it. I would have turned you into a bird and let you get eaten by a cat.”

“Well maybe he saw talent in me.” She snapped. “After all he does know more than you do. And I have this necklace. The wizard who gave it to me must have known I’d be a great witch.”

“Whatever.” 

“He’s right you know.” Tink chimed in. “Watching you get eaten by a cat would have been entertaining.” 

Before Wendy could argue Pan came running down the stairs again.

“Wendy! What kind of bedding do you want?” he asked.

“Something with a lot of lace.” She replied after some thought.

“I figured as much.” He said before disappearing again. 

“You know it took me months of hard work to get him to teach me even the simplest spell, and a month after that before he made me a room here.” Felix grumbled.

“See, he must think I’m special.” Wendy replied smugly.

“No,” Tink said. “He’s desperate. He needs all the magic he can get and you just happened to be on hand.”

“Why would he need more magic?” Wendy asked.

“There’s another wizard after him.” Felix said. “They’ve been enemies for a long time, but he’s getting closer. Last time I checked he had been searching down in Market Chipping, but according to Pan he’s sent his magic all the way out to Port Haven now.”

“But isn’t Pan extremely powerful? He should be able to fight him. So why is he hiding?”

“The most powerful wizard in all of Ingary is after him.” Tink said. “And he’s teamed up with a rather powerful witch as well. He’ll never admit it to anyone, but Peter is scared.”

“Pan’s not scared.” Felix scoffed. “He’s just being strategic.”

“I hate to agree with Felix.” Wendy said. “But I find it hard to imagine that Pan would be afraid of anyone.”

“Hush.” Tink whispered. “He’s coming back downstairs.”

Just as she said the words, Pan once again appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

“One last thing” he said. “What would you like your window looking out onto?” 

“You can choose what I can see from my window?”

“It’s amazing that you’re still surprised at the things I can do.” He rolled his eyes at her. “Yes Wendy, I can use my magic to give you a view of whatever you like.”

“Well then… I guess I’d like to be able to see the beach and the ocean.”

He silently nodded and disappeared again.

“So what’s the name of this wizard that’s after Pan?” Wendy whispered.

“He goes by many names.” Felix said. “Some call him the Dark One, others call him the Crocodile…  
”  
“His real name is Rumpelstiltskin” Tink interrupted. “And the woman he’s teamed up with is named Regina. Both are very powerful”

“Pan can take them no problem.” Felix said. 

“Then why does he want my help?” Wendy asked. 

“He doesn’t.” Felix replied. “He just wants you around in case he needs a Plan D.”

“Well he still must think I have potential or I wouldn’t be here.” Wendy snapped. 

“Will you both stop fighting.” Tink raised her voice. “Peter’s coming down again and if he knows we were talking about Rumpelstiltskin we’re all going to be punished.”

Tink’s scolding was enough to get them to quiet down just in time for Pan to appear at the bottom of the stairs again. He looked more relaxed than he had earlier that day, almost cheerful in a way. There’s was even a bit of a spring in his step as he strode over the table to check on their work. 

“How are you doing with that fire spell?” He asked Wendy.

“I think I’m doing pretty well.” She said proudly. 

“She set the table on fire.” Felix tattled.

Wendy braced herself for Pan’s wrath. The scorch marks were sure to ruin his fleeting good mood. She knew he would shout at her and force her to clean it up. He might even suspend her magic lessons and make her do a week’s worth of chores as punishment. Anything was possible with Pan. Or maybe he would decide to turn her into a bird after all, which might not be so bad, as long as she avoided cats. At least she would be able to fly. Instead of doing any of these things, he burst into laughter.

“I had a feeling you would.” He said when he had stopped laughing. “So where is it?”

Wendy cautiously moved the spell book to show him the burn marks. She still didn’t trust him not to curse her. 

“Not bad,” he said, examining it. “I expected you’d at least have created a hole. Maybe you’re not as dumb as you look.”

He placed a hand over the scorch mark and slowly pulled it towards him. Within seconds the mark had been pulled up from the table, as if it was simply a sticky piece of paper. 

“There we go.” Pan said. “Why don’t you try again, but this time, aim for the candle. I really like this table.”

Wendy focused on the candle as hard as she could, blocking out all outside distractions. She said the spell more confidently now. 

“Tân yn llosgi llachar a chryf.”

In a second a flame appeared on the wick of the candle. It wasn’t a very large, but rather weak and fragile looking, like if she just breathed too heavily it would blow out, but it was there. 

“I did it!” she exclaimed. 

“Not bad.” Pan shrugged. “You’ve got a long way to go yet.”

“Well, yes…”

‘How is that shielding spell going?” he asked turning to Felix.

“I’ve almost got it figured out. I’m just having trouble with this last part.”

“Keep trying and if you still haven’t got it I’ll help you out later.”

“Yes sir.”

“How are those protections spells holding up?” He said, walking over to Tink.

“Good, no one’s touched them.”

“Keep up the good work.” He turned back to Wendy. “Would you like to see your new bedroom now?”

“Oh, yes.” she said softly.

He motioned for her to follow him and led her up the stairs. She was extremely glad that his back was to her as they walked, as she found herself blushing uncontrollably at the thought of him being in her bedroom. She could just imagine what her mother would have to say about that and about the fact that she was going to sleep in strange man’s house, in a room he had made for her no less. She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. She didn’t care what her mother had to say about those sorts of things anymore, that was why she had come here in the first place.

Though she had been immensely curious about it, up until now Wendy had not gotten to see the top floor of the cottage. She hadn’t exactly been banned from going up there, but she had the feeling that Pan would have gotten rather angry if she had been poking around without his permission.. She had to say it was not nearly as exciting as she had expected it to be. The bottom floor was so plain and normal that she figured the top floor must be the place where he kept all the exciting wizard stuff, but it was as plain as the bottom floor. After coming up the wooden stairs they entered a hallway, a normal average sized hallway, not even a magical endless hallway. It had plain wooden floorboards and the same dusty olive green walls as the downstairs part of the cottage had before she had painted them. There was absolutely nothing hanging on the walls and the stretches of dingy green paint were only interrupted by several ordinary looking wooden doors. Except for the fact that it was floating in the middle of the ocean, one would have never guessed that the cottage belonged to a wizard. 

“For a wizard you have very plain taste in decorating.” She said as he led her down the hallway. 

“It’s not something I bother with.” He said.

“That’s a shame.”

“I suppose the place could use a woman’s touch. I’ll make it your job to decorate now.”

“I’d like that, although it’s not as if I’m the only girl who lives here. There is Tink after all.”

“She’s a fire demon, they don’t care anymore about decorating than I do. It’s not like she gets to see this part of the cottage anyway.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“This,” He pointed to the first door on the left side of the hallway, “is Felix’s room. I don’t have to tell you not to go in there.” 

She nodded. Felix would probably strangle her if she so much as opened the door,

“And that over there,” he pointed to the second door on the left. “Is the upstairs bathroom. I’m going to let you have his one for yourself. Felix and I will take the one downstairs, we’ll use it a lot less than you anyway. It needs a lot of cleaning though. That will be another of your chores.”

“Alright.”

They walked a bit further down the hallway. 

“This over here.” He pointed to the first door on the right. “Is my room. I know you have a tendency to let your curiosity get the better of you, but if you even try to open that door and peek your nose in you’re asking for a curse.”

She silently nodded. She had to admit she wanted to know what was inside his room, but Pan did not make empty threats, so she would keep her distance. 

“And over here.” He said, coming to a door on the right side of the end of the hallway. “Is your new room.”

Ever dramatic, Pan opened the door with a grand gesture and let her walk around the room in wonder. The walls were covered in a dainty blue and green flowered wall paper and the floor had an amazingly plush carpet. In the centre of the room stood a large four poster brass bed covered in blue and white lacy bedding with curtains to match. It might have even been grander than the bed she had at home, she could have fit three people in it and there were at least twenty pillows. Also in the room was a little wooden writing desk, already full of pens, fancy stationary, and a couple of books that she assumed contained the spells she was to learn. There was also a vanity with a rather grand mirror covered in curlicues of scrollwork. The vanity had been stocked as well with small cut class vials of perfume, some shiny silver brushes delicately engraved with flowers, and a small wooden jewellery box with leaves carved into it. Finally she came upon a rather large wooden wardrobe in the corner of the room. It stretched from the floor to the ceiling and was covered in little carvings of flowers, trees, and fairies. It was magnificent. For someone who didn’t care much about decorations, he had certainly done a fantastic job with her bedroom. This was the sort of thing magic should be used for. 

“Open the wardrobe.” Peter said walking up behind her.

She did as he said and discovered the closest was full as well. There was a rainbow of dresses inside. There was every pattern she could imagine, all the trimmings she could dream of, dresses for everything sort of occasion from a fancy ball to a summer picnic. Pan and Felix spoke so much of curses and shields that magic seemed like more of a weapon than anything else, but if he wished, Peter could create beauty with it as well. 

“This really is amazing Peter.” She said as she took it all in. “Thank you.”

“You haven’t looked out the window yet.” He said as he guided her towards it.

On one side of the room was a nicely sized window, with a little window seat in it just like the one she had in her living room at home. Even more spectacular was the view outside the window. She could see the wide blue expanse of the ocean meeting the equally blue sky. There was a large stretch of soft white sand, lined with tall palm trees and bright pink flowers. She had no idea where the window looked out to, but she knew it definitely was not Port Haven. Perhaps it looked onto no place at all, perhaps it was simply an illusion created by the magic, but the birds flying through the sky certainly looked real enough.

“What do you think?” he asked form behind her.

“Oh Peter its lovely. Just look at those birds.”

“I thought you’d like them. “

“Felix said you ought to have cursed me into a bird when I came here rather than made me your apprentice.”

Pan gave her a little smirk. “Well he’s not entirely wrong. You’d make a nice bird.”

“He said he would have fed me to a cat.”

He laughed at her a bit, but didn’t say anything to either agree or disagree. The pair stood in silence watching the birds out the window as the made lazy circles, dipping and swooping near the water in patterns that made sense only to them. 

“Thank you, for all of this.” She said softly.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he replied. “I could still kick you out of here at any time. It’s in your contract.”

“Haven’t I proved myself to be useful already?”

“I don’t know about that. Go make us all lunch and then maybe I’ll decide.”

“Fine.” She sighed.

The two headed back out of the room and down the stairs together. The rest of the day was quite busy for Wendy. Pan ordered her to make lunch, and she did so. She was starting to get the hang of cooking, but she still needed a lot of help from Tink. After lunch he instructed her to practice lighting the candle again. She did as he said, and managed to not only light the candle, but to create a rather strong flame. She was getting the hang of magic much faster than cooking. By dinner time she was exhausted, but she managed to create an edible, if not pretty meal for the four of them. Though it was rather early, by the time she had finished with dinner she was ready to sleep in her new bed. 

Pan and Felix immediately headed upstairs after dinner, leaving Wendy with Tink to clean up. She chatted idly with the fire demon as she gathered the dishes in the sink and began to wash them. 

“Peter said he was going to let me decorate the cottage.” 

“He could do that easily himself if he wanted to.”

“Oh, I know, but it’s nice of him to let me do it. He’s been awfully nice today, my bedroom looks amazing.”

“He can be nice, when he feels like it.”

“Well I hope he feels like it more often.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. This business with Rumpelstiltskin has him on edge.”

“You wouldn’t have known it today.”

“Just be careful not to make him angry, he could snap at any minute.”

“Alright. Well I’m going to bed, I’ll leave some firewood out for you. Goodnight.”

Wendy set out a few logs next to the fireplace and then headed upstairs. Her bedroom was just as breath-taking at night. She still couldn’t believe Peter had done this for her. It was just so nice, and so unlike all the other interactions he had with him. She had begun to think of him as a demon, but now she realized there might have been a different side to him after all, a nicer one, almost like a fairy godfather. She laughed a little to herself. Pan would have hated that comparison. 

She opened the giant wardrobe in search of a nightgown. After a few minutes of looking she discovered about ten and chose her favourite to put on. It was white and very light and lacy. It felt like something a princess would wear to bed. There she was making fairy tale comparisons again. Granted there was plenty of magic here, but she wasn’t a princess, she did too much cleaning. She headed over to her new bathroom to brush her teeth. As Pan had said, it was filthy. There was grime everywhere, in the sink, in the bathtub, even on the ceiling. She’d have to get to work on that in the morning. She brushed her teeth, careful to avoid touching the sink too much and then headed back down the hallway. 

“Wendy” a voice called from behind her.

She turned around and saw Peter closing the door to his room behind him. 

“Hi” she said, blushing a little self-consciously as she looked down at her nightgown.

“Sleep well tonight. There’s a lot to do tomorrow. Now that you’re getting the hang of the fire spell I want to move on to something more challenging.”

“I’ll certainly sleep better in my new bed than I did in that hammock.”

“I’m glad you like it. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight” she said awkwardly as she headed into her room. 

As she settled into her big soft bed a little fear creep inside of her. What if she woke up and it was all a dream? What if she was really asleep in the hammock right now, or worse in her parent’s house? That was impossible and she knew it, but she just couldn’t shake the fear from the back of her mind. All of this was too good, something bad just had to come along and ruin it. She tried to ignore thoughts as she lay back on a pile of pillows and made a little wish that when she woke up it would all still be there.


End file.
